NZ Festival of Motor Racing celebrating Denny Hulme

Anything to the rumours that Hampton Downs is under threat ? I read that the Government put various obstacles in the way when it was being constructed. Seems a nice little venue, sort of Pukekohe meets Brands Indy.

Anything to the rumours that Hampton Downs is under threat ? I read that the Government put various obstacles in the way when it was being constructed. Seems a nice little venue, sort of Pukekohe meets Brands Indy.

It's a top venue, many great viewing spots; you don't need to be ensuited

Anything to the rumours that Hampton Downs is under threat ? I read that the Government put various obstacles in the way when it was being constructed. Seems a nice little venue, sort of Pukekohe meets Brands Indy.

Photos of a fabulous car, Denny's 1968 Can-Am Championship-winning M8A-2 that was unveiled at the Festival after a restoration under the auspices of the Trust (that's ex-McLaren employee John Steenson kneeling beside the car):

The M8A was later converted to M8B spec & used as the team's spare in 1969. It was the car in which Bruce McLaren won his last race at the Texas World Speedway Can-Am in 1969. Others who drove the car included Dan Gurney, Peter Gethin & Chris Amon.

On a personal note, I remember being at the 1969 Laguna Seca Can-Am when Chris Amon's Ferrari 612 failed during practice/qualifying & he was put into the Team spare, presumably this car. Having had no seat time in the car, the officials allowed him to do some laps during the lunch break, the only condition being that he drive slowly through start-finish because there was a high school band playing adjacent to it! I will never forget the sound of that one lone car out there & what sounded like the moving of heaven & earth every time Chris grabbed another gear--come to think of it, maybe an LG was like moving heaven & earth!

I think the photo's from the suites show what is really the only problem with spectating at Hampton Downs, and that is the catch fencing down the outside of the main straight.
Granted, it has to be there for safety reasons, but why did they build the outside concrete wall on the main straight so close to the track. If a car breaks down, there is nowhere for it to safely pull off the track out of harms way. The position of the wall dictates the position of the catch fencing, and I tried to watch the racing through the catch fencing, but gave up, and as the grass banking below the suites was basically empty of spectators, not a lot of people thought it was a good idea either.
Its there now and there to stay, but I feel it could have been a lot better. My only gripe.

All the cars on display have an interesting history and none more so than the orange No 66 McLaren M12 driven by Barry Kirk-Burnnand. A number of years ago Fox and Hampton Downs managing director Tony Roberts discovered the car in a restaurant in Tokyo, Japan.

The M12 had been in a glass case for nearly 30 years as a shrine to CanAm driver Hiroshi Kazato, who had died racing in 1974. The car had been sold to the restaurant by Tadashi Sakai, a kingpin in the Japanese Yakuza, who had raced it successfully in the early 1970s. Sakai died in a house fire after the car was brought to New Zealand

Very interesting history there, quite a path for that M12. I saw Kazato in Can-Am in 1971, he finished 5th at Road America IIRC in a Lola T222. First, I had no idea he was only 22 at the time (makes that 5th all the more impressive!)) and also had never heard he'd died racing. News to me, nearly 40 years on. Amazing.

Great to see the car out of glass and back where it belongs! Kudos to all involved.

Granted, it has to be there for safety reasons, but why did they build the outside concrete wall on the main straight so close to the track. If a car breaks down, there is nowhere for it to safely pull off the track out of harms way. The position of the wall dictates the position of the catch fencing, and I tried to watch the racing through the catch fencing, but gave up

Can't help but wonder if that's the ex-Jon Woodner/Carroll Smith Talon (1975) leading the ex-Sam Posey/Jack McCormack Talon (1976)... (mainly based on their current colors and my assumptions of originality )

Can't help but wonder if that's the ex-Jon Woodner/Carroll Smith Talon (1975) leading the ex-Sam Posey/Jack McCormack Talon (1976)... (mainly based on their current colors and my assumptions of originality )

Thanks Vince, are cars missing on the site or were there only two built?

From Talon owner David Banks:

F5000 Talon MR #1 owner David Banks explains the differences between the #1 and #1A chassis. Only five Talons were ever built. This season we have two on the track together in the MSC F5000 series in NZ while a third Talon has just come into the country awaiting restoration. David explains that a fourth is now for sale.

A side on shot of the red Talon a couple of posts ago shows the Chris Amon name on the car.

Clive's anti-sniper technique involved wearing a German tunic and picking off the snipers from behind, turning around after he took his shot to appear to be looking for where it had come from, which must have taken some considerable bottle......

This is a great thread Tony, and it looks like a fantastic trip. I invited myself into McLaren Manchesterknutsfordcheshire to have a close gander at M14A/2. My interest was two-fold, which is what you get with a black belt in origami. Denny is on my long list of heroes, and I believe the M14A/2 was the car following Jochen Rindt into Parabolica, September 5th 1970. Typically McLaren, it is in better condition now than ever in its 43 years. Like Phil I hope it's replaced in the showroom with something nice, although it could be the new P1 - which looks like the guys in Woking design office have been on the Columbian marching powder. JohnP